Manchester United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe (left), chief executive Omar Berrada (centre) and director of football Jason Wilcox will decide Michael Carrick's fate as head coach
Michael Carrick's future as Manchester United head coach will be determined 800 miles away from Old Trafford in Monaco on Wednesday.
Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox are flying out for one of their regular pre-planned meetings to discuss strategy around the football club.
On this occasion, the main issue to be decided is Carrick's future and what should happen next.
It is expected that Berrada and Wilcox's recommendation is for the head coach to go.
It is not a situation Sir Jim Ratcliffe can have expected to find himself in again, less than three years after purchasing a minority stake in United.
On Christmas Eve 2023, his vision was much different.
"Our shared ambition is clear: we all want to see Manchester United back where we belong, at the very top of English, European and world football," he said.
Instead, United are 18th, in the Premier League's relegation zone after winning just one of their first 10 games and none since August. It is their lowest position so far into a top-flight season since 1986-87 when they were 20th.
Ratcliffe has been criticised for many decisions since he bought his 28.94% stake for just over £1bn. This is one he really needs to get right.
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Ratcliffe's home is in Monaco and his company Ineos has offices in the principality.
The meeting had been in the diary for some time as a regular catch-up between senior executives and their boss.
Sources have stressed that the choice of location was not influenced by the debate around Carrick's future - it just happens to now be the most important item for discussion.
The decision to sack United's previous two managers was not made in a meeting in Monaco.
Ruben Amorim was sacked 19 hours after his explosive media conference following a 1-1 draw at Leeds in January.
Erik ten Hag went a day after Manchester United lost at West Ham leaving them with just three wins from their opening nine matches
A decision to sack Dutchman Ten Hag was taken at a meeting of senior Ineos executives in the summer of 2024, only for the choice to be reversed following the FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City.
Four months later there was a six-hour meeting at Ineos HQ in London as Ten Hag's tenure hung by a thread. He survived again but was gone three weeks later.
Amorim was summoned to Monaco after the Europa League final defeat to Tottenham in 2025.
There is said to be daily communication between Berrada and Ratcliffe. So if the meeting was purely to decide Carrick's fate, it could be done by video conference, and the need to travel to Monaco is not the reason why there is yet to be a decision.
But the travel element does add a complication given Berrada and Wilcox want to inform Carrick of any decision first, and face to face.
Sources say the Monaco meetings used to be held every six weeks, although in more recent times they are less frequent.
Those who have attended them say they take place in the morning, tend to last between three and four hours and usually stop on time so Ratcliffe can go for his regular lunchtime jog.
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Carrick won 12 games out of 17 as interim boss to earn a two-year contract as Manchester United head coach in the summer
United stood by Carrick after the woeful 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth on 25 October.
Club sources were adamant they wanted to give Carrick and his players a chance to turn the situation around it was also felt that the two-week international break in November represented a better chance for the club to properly assess the club's start to the campaign.
However, although they did end a long wait for a victory against Roma on 3 November, United had to come from two goals down to seal a 3-2 victory in a chaotic game.
They failed to press home their advantage after excelling in the first half against Chelsea and eventually lost 2-0 as experienced central defender Lisandro Martinez was sent off.
On Sunday, they conceded twice inside five minutes and had to come from two goals down twice to claim a point against Villa.
While sources said the comebacks showed the United squad were still playing for Carrick, it is also understood the chaotic nature of the games and the inability to stop the opposition from scoring has led Berrada and Wilcox, who were at all three matches, to conclude a change of coach is required to get United out of the mess they find themselves in.
United have conceded 30 goals so far this season in 15 games - 19 in 10 Premier League matches, eight in four in the Champions League and three in their one Carabao Cup tie.
Instead of replacing Carrick another option under consideration is additional coaching support to assist the current team.
Bayern Munich coach Aaron Danks, who worked with Carrick at Middlesbrough and was touted as a potential appointment in the summer, is one option.
Manchester United co-chair Avram Glazer (left) with minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe at the 2025 Europa League final
If Ratcliffe was to decide otherwise, it would raise serious questions over the future of Berrada and Wilcox.
How could they work with Carrick again in that scenario?
The pair have been the subject of intense and frequent fan discontent. But sources are adamant that Ratcliffe still retains faith in the pair, even though United are heading towards sacking a manager in mid-season for the third successive year, having backed them in the summer and spend millions on new players.